


New Arrivals

by mandaree1



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, Homunculus Lena, Tea, because why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-24 08:16:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14950988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaree1/pseuds/mandaree1
Summary: Magica invites her brother over for tea. He brings his 'daughter' with him- a newly formed homunculus named Lena.





	New Arrivals

"A new homunculus, Poe?" Magica asked as she held the door open, studying the tiny duckling clinging to his side. "A bit scrawny, isn't it?"

" _No_ ," Poe said, so viciously it surprised her. "Her name is Lena. She's my daughter."

She raised an eyebrow. "Bold of you to assume I don't know about your love life- or lack thereof- brother." Magica crouched a little so she was eye to eye with the creature. The homunculus met her gaze without any real acknowledgement. "Looks fairly new. Be a dear,  _Lena_ , and make me some tea. Maybe clean up a bit while you're at it."

"If you want," Poe added. "It's all up to you, Lena."

Lena twitched. She looked at her, then at Poe, then her again. Finally, she said, "I'll clean first."

Magica and Poe met on the dusty green couch in her living room, calmly sitting down without issue. Lena moved about in the background, picking up papers and old dishes. Poe watched her as she went, something Magica couldn't quite place in his eyes. He leaned back and pushed his glasses up his long beak.

"So," she started. "Since when do you name your homunculuses, Poe?"

"I wasn't joking, Magica," he answered, tapping a tune out on his knee. "I'm running an experiment; and Lena, my lovely new daughter, has agreed to participate."

"She's a homunculus, Poe," Magica repeated, deadpan. "A sand creature. They aren't  _people_. They don't think or act like people. They're just there to do one's bidding." She gestured to the girl, currently tying the tiny trash bag and hauling it out of its equally tiny bin. "See?"

"Don't you get it, sis?" The spark turned into a fire, and that's when Magica realized that Poe had gone off into his mad magic science persona again. He was like that; always testing the limits of their powers. " _We_  do that. The moment they're born, we shove them into a role and never let them move from it. I want to see what'll happen if we give one free reign!"

She cocked her head to the side. "You'll confuse it, is what you'll do."

"Not necessarily!" Poe jumped to his feet. "Lena, what are you doing right now?"

Shuffle, shuffle. The new sneakers squeaked on hardwood floors as she turned to face the man, trash bag still in hand. Lena looked a bit like a deer caught in the headlights. "M'cleaning," she said.

"Why?"

She shrugged and pointed at Magica. "She told me to."

Magica smiled at Poe smugly. "See?"

Poe pointedly ignored her. "Do you want to do it?"

Another shrug. "It's polite." Then, ever-so-hesitantly, she peeked at her, and there was more emotion written on her face than she'd ever seen on a homunculus before. Fear, suspicion, and concern. "Can I have a cup of tea too, dad?"

"Do you want one?"

She nodded robotically. "Mmhmm."

"Of course you can, honey." He patted her on the shoulder. "Thank you for helping."

Lena hefted the trash bag over her shoulder and trekked into the kitchen. Poe set her a smug look of his very own as he sat back down, crossing his arms. "See that, Magica?"

"I must admit, I'm impressed." She cupped her chin. "Maybe there  _is_  something to be said of giving them personalized names."

"This isn't about the name, sis. It's about giving them the chance to  _be_  people." He was beginning to bounce in his seat. "Just imagine what we could learn!"

Magica took that as her cue and stood. "I think I'll go see what I can learn now." Her high heels clacked loudly as she followed after the creature. "I'm very precise about my tea. I'd hate for her to mess it up."

As she turned the corner to her kitchen, she stopped and watched Lena as she worked. There  _was_  something about her that seemed more duck than the average homunculus- she flinched away from the heat of the flame as she warily set the kettle on the stove to boil; and, when she stepped back, she tripped, flinging her arms about. It reminded Magica of a new shoe- leathery and tough, but not impossible to mold. She wondered if her brother  _was_  on to something- but, even if he was, what good did it do? Why make a homunculus if it was going to be prone to the same errors as their makers?

"Lena." The girl jumped as she stepped into the room. Magica forced herself to smile. "I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to be so... dismissive."

Lena blinked at her, slowly relaxing her body. "Okay."

She got down on one knee, pressing a hand to her chest. "I'm Magica, but you can call me Aunt Magica."

Her face twisted up. "...Au...nt?"

"Aunt," Magica repeated firmly. It only made sense to play along- it would only serve to confuse the creature further if she tried to undo what her brother had already done. "That's what I am, Lena. Your father's sister. That makes us family."

"Family?" Her eyes lit up. "Like dad?"

The excitement in her tone made her feel uncomfortable, but she refused to shy away from something the size of a child. "Yes, Lena. Family. You're a De Spell." She snuck a glance behind her, but Poe hadn't followed. "Has your father said anything about the McDuck family?"

Lena slowly shook her head.

Magica grabbed her shoulders, nails biting deep. "They're evil, Lena. The worst of the worst. It's because of the McDuck family that your father and I have to live in such squalor," she said, staring intently into her eyes. "We...  _our_  family deserves much better."

The girl slowly looked around the kitchen. It was covered with pots, pans, cauldrons, and other such things. Old, but all lovingly used. "Is this... bad?"

"Your father and I deserve the world, Lena." Magica got up and took the now screaming kettle off the fire, pointing to a random cupboard. Lena willingly grabbed three cups from inside. "You're not a  _real_  De Spell until you realize that."

Lena's face settled back into something decidedly more neutral. "Then how come dad never said anything?"

Magica thought fast. "He wanted to protect you. You see how attached he can get to things, and he wants to protect them, even from the truth." She scoffed and shook her head. "Sentimental old fool. Do yourself a favor, Lena, and try to not take too much after him."

She nodded, watching the woman pour the cups. A change seemed to overcome her as she accepted the words. "Yes, Aunt Magica."

**Author's Note:**

> Due to certain hints in the new episode, I've been seeing the concept of Lena not being an actual duck floating around, so I just had to make a short drabble about it lol. (I kinda made homunculus synonymous with golem here, but you gotta admit that homunculus is a pretty awesome word to say, even if it sucks to type/spell)
> 
> My Poe is completely off the cuff here; I just figured that, if that theory ended up being true, Poe would probably be a pretty curious dude. Want to test the boundaries and see what came out of it.
> 
> -Mandaree1


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